Remdesivir numbers dwindle across Kolkata pvt hospitals – Times of India

KOLKATA: Private hospitals across Kolkata have been facing a shortage of Remdesivir — the principal Covid drug used on patients with moderate to severe symptoms, including those on oxygen. Even as the number of Covid patients continue to rise sharply, several hospitals have been running out of stock over the last few days and some were forced to borrow from other hospitals. The crisis was triggered by a sudden slump in supply that has resulted from a diversion of Remdesivir to the worst-affected states, said a section of suppliers.
The Dhakuria unit of AMRI Hospitals had run out of Remdesivir earlier this week. While the hospital had 47 Covid patients then, 40 of them needed the drug. “We somehow managed to acquire some. On Thursday, we received 50 doses and are supposed to get 50 more on Friday. But this slow supply is not enough to cater to patients,” said an AMRI spokesperson.
A consignment of the drug that is administered to Covid patients for five consecutive days reached Kolkata on Thursday. But the size of the consignment — just 1,260 doses — was inadequate. A patient at a south Kolkata private hospital who was supposed to receive her third dose on Tuesday had to skip it as the hospital ran out of Remdesivir.
Hospital authorities are exchanging frantic messages on their WhatsApp groups, keeping track of each others’ stocks and seeking replenishment from each other.
Belle Vue Clinic said its stock has been thin for several days and the authorities are worried since the number of Covid patients has gone up sharply. “We have 83 Covid patients and several require the drug. Supplies have slowed with the rise in cases across Maharashtra, Karnataka and Punjab. Our suppliers say that the bulk of the drug is going to these states. We are keeping fingers crossed,” said CEO P Tondon.
He added that two other hospitals owned by the Belle Vue group in Rajasthan and Jharkhand were facing a similar shortage.
Peerless Hospital was supposed to receive 80 vials on Thursday, but received only half that quantity.
“We have more than 35 Covid patients now and around six of them need the drug. Four of our suppliers have stopped providing Remdesivir. Our stocks will last two more days and we will have a crisis if fresh stock doesn’t reach us by then,” said CEO Sudipta Mitra.
There is no suitable alternative to Remdesivir, according to doctors. “It has to be administered early to moderate and severe patients. This is why it’s important to have enough stock. At this stage, we are not sure if the requirement will rise sharply over the next few days,” said Belle Vue internal medicine consultant Rahul Jain.